Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bee Venom Used to Treat Arthritis Pain

Seminar Discusses Benefits of Bees
By Samantha Swindler, The Times-Tribune (USA), 2/162009

From stings that can ease arthritis pain to honey that can treat ulcers, beekeepers shared their stories during a half-day seminar Saturday.

About 90 beekeepers, both veterans and novices, attended “beekeeping school” at the Corbin Center for Technology to discuss the benefits and challenges of raising the helpful insects.

Apiculture (from “apis,” the Latin for bee) is the ancient practice of farming honeybees.

Laura Rogers, a speaker during the seminar, comes from at least five generations of Eastern Kentucky beekeepers…

Laura said a friend has been receiving doctor-prescribed injections of honeybee venom for arthritis. Laura, who has arthritic pain in her ankle, said she regularly lets bees sting her to relieve the pain. The American Apitherapy Society claims multiple sclerosis, arthritis, wounds, gout, shingles, burns, tendonitis and infections can be treated with honeybee products.

“She pays for that, and I go down there and get stung and I get it for free,” she said.

Beyond just the sting, raw honey is an anti-bacterial, enzyme rich food that helps everything from diabetes to open wounds. It can help boost immunity, it’s been used as a cough suppressant for children over the age of 2,and it’s been used topically as a treatment for wounds for preventing infection.

Many of these healing properties are lost in pasturized honey — the kind most often found on supermarket shelves…

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